Subsequent to processing input/output (I/O) requests over a period of time, a storage device (e.g., a hard disk) may detect problems such as adjacent track interference, which can impact the reliability of data stored on the storage device. Adjacent track interference can occur if a particular track of the storage device is written a large number of times (e.g., 30,000 times or more) without writing to any adjacent tracks. The large number of writes on the particular track may cause some magnetic flux interference on the adjacent tracks that, over many write cycles, can accumulate and leave the adjacent tracks unreadable. In other words, data stored on the adjacent tracks can become corrupted due to adjacent track interference. Various techniques for detecting and correcting storage device problems such as adjacent track interference are known in the art.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.